For my
first project, I decided I was going to make the decision about what or who I
would draw based on an artist who was famously known for drawing the human
figure. I explored various artists such as Da Vinci, Degas, Kahlo, etc. but due
to the nature of the assignment, I wanted to find an artist that would inspire
me and lead me in a more fun, colorful, and abstract direction. With that, I
chose Picasso. I explored some of his pieces and asked myself what I was most
drawn to in his pieces. I love his line work, the fact that he makes human
faces look like masks, and his use of color. With those three concepts on my
mind, I took a few days exploring other modern artists. In the next couple
days, I was preoccupied with other responsibilities and had forgotten about my
project. One night, I found myself watching The Corpse Bride, a film created by
Tim Burton. I had seen this movie once before, but I never gave it any thought
artistically. Then, a song came on called “Remains of the Day.” In this scene,
creatures from the dead danced and sang. Their bodies, in Tim Burton’s classic
style were all out of proportion. Bones were flinging and flailing. Their eyes
were half the size of their heads. Suddenly, I was thinking about my project
again. The proportions were so weird.
I asked myself, “I wonder what their
skeletons would look like.”
From that
point, I went back to the drawing board and pulled up my research about Picasso.
I saw so many similarities between his work and Tim Burton’s work. In his
characters and his landscapes, Tim Burton famously twists and twirls lines that
ought to be straight. He creates abstract, human-like faces that come off as “mask-like”
and mysterious. Finally, he uses bright colors in select scenes so
intentionally and intelligently. Even though his entire movie contains mostly dead
people or dark themes, he makes the bright colors essential to the success of
the pieces. I then searched the internet even further to see if Burton had ever
made any comments about being inspired by or influenced by Picasso, but I was
unable to find any such research. Perhaps, I could be one of the first to come
up with a paper on that topic.
After my moment
of epiphany, I gained direction for my project. I watched The Nightmare Before
Christmas the next day. I have seen this film a million times, but this time I
looked at it through an artistic eye. I focused mainly on looking at
proportions and visualizing what each character’s skeleton might look like. I
narrowed my choice for this project down to the evil trick-or-treaters, Lock,
Shock, and Barrel and ultimately decided to draw the witch-like child, Shock. I
was fascinated by her triangular body, elongated head, wispy feet, and tiny
hands. She also presented an opportunity to integrate some of the color I was talking
about earlier. She famously wears a purple hat and dress and has bright blue
lining around her mouth and eyes. I think the character is so creative and fun.
I absolutely loved researching for this project.
Influences:
Artist - Pablo Picasso
Artist - Tim Burton
Video 1 - The Making of the Nightmare Before Christmas
Video 2 - The World of Tim Burton Exhibition in Shanghai
Video 3 - Song/Film: Remains of the Day from Corpse Bride
Video 4 - Film: The Nightmare Before Christmas
